Pakistan Special Report
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Events in Pakistan matter to the world.
In this special reference issue, we’ll show you why.
A Peek at Pakistan
Pakistan makes world news headlines all the time. You know that the nuclear-armed nation is both a key U.S. ally in the fight against al-Qaeda and a major base for al-Qaeda. But what else do you know about it?
Find out what you should know now
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Pakistan, By the Numbers
With nearly 165 million people, Pakistan is the world’s sixth most populous country. Only China, India, the United States, Indonesia, and Brazil have more people. Among mainly Muslim countries, Pakistan is the second largest (after Indonesia), and the only one with nuclear weapons.
Put Pakistan squarely on your mental map–
with our summary of its key stats
Pakistan, On the Map
The news often talks ominously of “instability in Pakistan.” With our Pakistan slideshow, you’ll understand why. We’ll show you–using seven different maps–how the nation emerged from British India just 60 years ago and why it faces challenges from practically every side now.
Learn visually about Pakistan–
with our slideshow of detailed maps
Why Kashmir Gives People the Sweats
For 60 years, India and Pakistan have been on the brink of war in Kashmir. Why have both nuclear nations been willing to risk the ultimate conflict? The territorial tiff goes back to Britain’s imperial shrinkage after World War II. Yet the conflict’s cultural roots go far deeper.
Learn why India and Pakistan fight
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Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?
Who knows! But lots of experts think he’s holed up somewhere in the arid, punishing, mountainous terrain along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border–hiding in a tiny crack in colonial history. Here’s how that crack came to be.
Pakistan, By the Numbers
Pakistan, By the Numbers
Zoom out over South Asia
Few countries in the world embrace more people than Pakistan. Few have more powerful weapons on the shelf. No wonder the troubled nation makes such world news. So, before you see another ominous headline about “the instability in Pakistan,” review these key stats–and put Pakistan squarely on your mental map.
Indus River Valley
310,403 – Pakistan’s total area, in square miles (803,940 sq km). That makes it a little larger than Turkey and around twice the size of Iraq–or, about the size of California, Oregon, and Washington combined. Map it.
2,000 – Length of the Indus River, in miles (3,200 km). From its source on the Tibetan Plateau, the Indus fed the original Indus River Valley civilization of ancient India and still waters most of Pakistan’s crops. It nearly runs the length of Pakistan before emptying into the Arabian Sea.
Very Crowded Country
165 million – Pakistan’s total population. That makes it the world’s sixth most populous nation, after China, India, the United States, Indonesia, and Brazil. Pakistan has more people than Germany, France, and the Netherlands combined. But its people are more a patchwork of different ethnic groups than a unified nation. Map these ethnic groups.
97 – Percentage of Pakistan’s people who are Muslims. Around 77 percent are Sunni; around 20 percent are Shi’ite. The three largest ethnic groups are Punjabis (44 percent of the population), Pashtuns (15 percent), and Sindhis (14 percent). The different ethnic groups speak their own languages at home. Lawyers and government officials–along with many businesses–use English as a common language.
Home of the “Islamic Bomb”
59 – Number of years since UN peacekeepers first began patrolling the disputed Kashmir region. Before that, Pakistan and India had already fought one war over Kashmir (from 1947 to 1949). They have since fought two more (in 1965 and 1971), along with intermittent skirmishes. Map Kashmir.
30 – Minimum number of nuclear weapons in Pakistan’s arsenal. Pakistani sources say the nation was nuclear-capable by the late 1980s, thanks in large part to German-trained nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan. A.Q. Khan has since become an international pariah by passing nuclear secrets to the likes of North Korea.